José Guillermo García
Brigadier General José Guillermo García | |
|---|---|
| Minister of National Defense | |
| In office 15 October 1979 – April 1983 | |
| President | Revolutionary Government Junta (until 1982) Álvaro Magaña (from 1982) |
| Preceded by | Federico Castillo Yanes |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 June 1933 San Vicente, El Salvador |
| Occupation | Military |
| Known for | Human rights violations |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  El Salvador |
| Branch/service | Salvadoran Army |
| Rank |  Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars | 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état Salvadoran Civil War |
José Guillermo García (born 25 June 1933) is a former general of the military of El Salvador and was minister of defense of the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador between the years 1979 and 1983.[1]
Emigration to United States
[edit]He emigrated to the United States in 1989, where he lived until January 2016 until he was deported to El Salvador.
Lawsuit cases
[edit]He was sued, along with Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, in the United States district court in West Palm Beach[2] in two precedent-setting legal actions:
- Ford v. Garcia, a lawsuit by the families of four Catholic churchwomen, including two Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, who were murdered by a Salvadoran military death squad on 2 December 1980. García's defense won the case, and the families appealed. Their appeal was denied, and in 2003, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear further proceedings.
- Ramagoza v. Garcia, a lawsuit filed by the Center for Justice and Accountability on behalf of survivors of torture during the Salvadoran Civil War. García lost, and a judgment of over $54 million (U.S.) was entered against him and his co-defendant, and upheld on appeal.[3][4]
Deportation to El Salvador
[edit]Guillermo García and General Vides Casanova had been undergoing a deportation process since 1999.[5] The Department of Homeland Security later charged García in 2009 with participating or assisting in torture and extrajudicial killings during his tenure as Minister of Defense.[5] His attorney Alina Cruz argued that he could not be deported on those grounds because he was already exonerated of those charges in the landmark case Ford vs. Garcia when a jury found that he was not in control of his troops. It was determined in 1998 that García's co-defendant General Vides Casanova and Casanova's cousin Col. Oscar Edgardo Casanova Vejar, the local military commander in Zacatecoluca, had planned and orchestrated the executions of the four North American churchwomen.[6]
On 12 April 2014, an immigration court judge ruled against García and called for his deportation.[7] On 16 December 2015, it was announced that an immigration appeals court upheld the decision to deport Garcia.[8] Garcia's attorney afterwards said they both plan to appeal the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]
On 8 January 2016, American immigration officials deported General García back to El Salvador.[9][10]
See also
[edit]- Juan Romagoza Arce
- Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
- Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
- Maura Clarke
- Jean Donovan
- Ita Ford
- Dorothy Kazel
- Salvadoran Civil War
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Former Salvadoran defense minister's deportation upheld | Miami Herald". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2015-12-26.
- ^ Washington Post 17 August 2003 The Case Against the Generals[1]
- ^ Gonzales, David (24 July 2002). "Torture Victims in El Salvador Are Awarded $54 Million". New York Times (24 July 2002).
- ^ "El Salvador Generals Guilty of Torture". BBC News. 2002-07-23. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ a b "U.S. Court: Removal of General Garcia – CJA".
- ^ Larry Rother (3 April 1998). "4 Salvadorans Say They Killed U.S. Nuns on Orders of Military". New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
- ^ Preston, Julia (12 April 2014). "Salvadoran General Accused in Killings Should be Deported, Miami Judge Says". The New York Times.
- ^ Preston, Julia (17 December 2015). "Deportation of Former Salvadoran Official is Upheld". The New York Times.
- ^ Preston, Julia (9 January 2016). "Florida: Ex-Leader of Salvadoran Military Deported". The New York Times.
- ^ "CJA : Former Salvadoran Minister of Defense General Garcia Removed from the United States". Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
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